Chris_Himself
Member of the Trade: HPL Audio Cables
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2007
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Quote:
There is a difference with balanced DAC > amp > headphone cable
Just reterminating something to dual XLR's alone doesn't equate to a difference. It's about keeping the two channels isolated through as much of the signal as possible.
Go to a DAC with dual AD1955 or WM8740 dac chips to a pair of RCA's/XLR's to a dedicated balanced amp and you will hear a difference. It's not just about cables, it's about how the sound is built from the ground up to have as less crosstalk as possible. Again it doesn't seem that important because we're dealing with such low power levels relative to speakers, but it's definitely there.
HeadRoom pioneered the balanced headphone game, they have a return policy on all their amps, I'm pretty sure if it was all smoke and mirrors, they'd be getting burned pretty hard on their flagship DAC/Amp's.
Just a reminder, just because it has two XLR's doesn't make it balanced, it has to have a dedicated left and right source, then dedicated L/R circuit, to balanced cables to have the maximum effect.
Also, I've spoken to HeadRoom at length about this and they do honest business, they told me that balanced isn't something to upgrade to if you're looking for better sound when I was asking about my HD600's and balancing my setup , it's just something to buy into from the getgo.
One thing I have on my mind :
I do believe in loudspeaker cable being crucial meaning less is more. In that view, HP are mini loudspeaker right?! So HP cable must matter!!!?? That is uber logical to me!
Also there is no need of balanced power amp to loudspeaker cabling, so why is there such a hype in balanced HP amp for HP!???
There is a difference with balanced DAC > amp > headphone cable
Just reterminating something to dual XLR's alone doesn't equate to a difference. It's about keeping the two channels isolated through as much of the signal as possible.
Go to a DAC with dual AD1955 or WM8740 dac chips to a pair of RCA's/XLR's to a dedicated balanced amp and you will hear a difference. It's not just about cables, it's about how the sound is built from the ground up to have as less crosstalk as possible. Again it doesn't seem that important because we're dealing with such low power levels relative to speakers, but it's definitely there.
HeadRoom pioneered the balanced headphone game, they have a return policy on all their amps, I'm pretty sure if it was all smoke and mirrors, they'd be getting burned pretty hard on their flagship DAC/Amp's.
Just a reminder, just because it has two XLR's doesn't make it balanced, it has to have a dedicated left and right source, then dedicated L/R circuit, to balanced cables to have the maximum effect.
Also, I've spoken to HeadRoom at length about this and they do honest business, they told me that balanced isn't something to upgrade to if you're looking for better sound when I was asking about my HD600's and balancing my setup , it's just something to buy into from the getgo.